business

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. said its board voted unanimously to reject BHP Billiton's hostile $38.5 billion takeover offer as it doesn't reflect the strong growth the company believes it is poised to enjoy. The Canadian company said it's in talks with several companies who have approached it or it has initiated contact with. "Discussions are being pursued with several of these third parties in order to generate value-enhancing alternatives," it said.

Health giant Johnson & Johnson has issued its ninth recall of a consumer health product in a year, this time covering millions of 1 Day Acuvue contact lenses sold in Japan and two dozen other countries in Asia and Europe. The affected contact lenses were mostly sold in Japan and none were sold in the U.S. or Canada, the company said. Johnson & Johnson said it had received a limited number of complaints from customers in Japan that they experienced an unusual stinging or pain when inserting the Acuvue TruEye Brand contact lenses.

Matthew Cooper, the journalist hired by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to help write a book about its findings on the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression, has quietly quit the panel. Cooper, a former White House reporter at Time magazine, left his job as a senior adviser on Aug. 13, a spokesman for the group said. The FCIC, set up by Congress last year, must issue a final report on the near-collapse of the financial system in 2008 by Dec. 15. "Matt had some opportunities that I guess could not wait until the end of the year," said FCIC spokesman Tucker Warren.

California's attorney general sued "tax lady" Roni Deutch for more than $34 million, alleging that her law firm violates state law by making false promises that it will help people resolve disputes with the Internal Revenue Service. Attorney General Jerry Brown contends that Deutch's late-night TV commercials overstate her claims of winning tax battles with the IRS. She advertises a success rate of up to 99 percent, yet reduces the amount of money her clients owe in just 10 percent of cases, the lawsuit says. Deutch's attorney, Alexander Collins, could not be reached for comment.

Bank of America Corp. CEO Brian Moynihan has bought 30,000 shares of common stock in the company, a possible signal to Wall Street that the executive believes BofA's stock is undervalued. Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission show Moynihan paid about $13.02 a share in three separate transactions for a total of roughly $390,000. The stock purchase brings Moynihan's direct ownership of BofA to 449,655 shares. BofA shares ended unchanged at $12.87.

A federal judge granted final approval to a settlement between Countrywide Financial Corp. and millions of customers left at high risk for identity theft because of a security breach. Countrywide, now owned by Bank of America, will provide free credit monitoring for up to 17 million people whose financial information was exposed. That group includes anyone who obtained a mortgage and anyone who used Countrywide to service a mortgage before July 1, 2008.

Luxury retailer Barneys New York has named Mark Lee, the former head of Gucci, as its new CEO. The appointment of the 47-year-old takes effect Sept. 1. Former CEO Howard Socol retired in 2008, and since then a committee of seven executives has run the company. Lee joined Gucci in 1996 and was president and CEO from 2004 through 2008.

FROM NEWS SERVICES